We Could Be Heroes
by Olivia Crane
Summary: Sam and Dean have had many varied allies over the years. But they've never teamed up with the likes of a superhero to help fight a demon infestation in New York City. As canon as possible. Takes place in season 4.
1. Chapter 1

"No!" Julia exclaimed, scrolling down her newsfeed on her phone.

"What? What is it?" Sam asked, snapping to attention.

"Olive Warnicke got engaged! That ring is at least five carats! But she's so nasally and her nose is so obviously fake and my God, she's a bitch. And her nails aren't even shellacked! How does she get a ring on it and I'm in a dark alley hunting a damn werewolf?"

"Werewolf hunting actually goes a lot better when you're quiet." Dean rolled his eyes. "My God, you are such a girl sometimes."

"Jesus, you're observant." Julia remarked, then frowned. "Sorry for going all chick flick. It's just…I mean, _Olive Warnicke_." She scrunched up her nose in disgust. "What's she have that I don't?"

"Well, maybe you're just…career-oriented. It can be intimidating?" Sam offered.

"If you guys are done with your chick flick moment, can we please just find this damn thing so we can gank his ass?"

"I hate this." Julia crossed her arms. "It's becoming an epidemic. There's more every month, no matter how many we take down every full moon."

"Well, that's why you called in the big guns, right?" Dean said.

"That's part of it. The werewolves and the vampires are reproducing at a freakish rate, but it all boils down to my demon problem. Mephistopheles, what a dick. Just another Big Bad who gets off on creating chaos in my city."

"Have you met him?" Sam asked. "Where can we find him?"

"Once. He thinks he killed me. I imagine it's like any other demon, right? Devil's trap and exorcism?"

"That's only if you don't have one of these." Dean waved the demon-killing dagger at her. "This baby actually kills them."

"Really?" Julia quirked her eyebrows. "Magic object? Cool. I'm really glad you guys came."

"Anything for an old friend." Sam said.

"Yeah, well, I'm not used to it. I'm a superhero. I'm the one who helps people. It's usually not the other way around."

"Everyone needs help sometimes." Sam reasoned. "Even superheroes."

"God, it sounds so ridiculous to say out loud, even now." Dean chuckled, lightly.

"Tell me about it." Julia said, pausing to sniff the air. "This trail is old. How are we gonna find this thing?"

"It'll show up somewhere. There's only so many places for it to go."

"We're in Manhattan, Dean. It could be anywhere, and folks will think it's just performance art until it tears their throats out."

"See? That's the problem with these New Yorkers. They're just so desensitized to weird that it's dangerous."

"Which makes the city a great haven for monsters." Julia said. "Certainly keeps me busy. Anyhoo, how are you guys? It's been…awhile. Longer for you, Sam. I saw Dean a few times while you were at Stanford."

"Really?"

"Yeah. We helped each other out a few times. But there'still so much catching up to do."

"You want the short version? It's been years, Jules." Sam offered.

Julia nodded.

"I went to college. Dean kept hunting. I left college. And now we're both hunting. Lots of stuff, really."

"Oh, come on. That's not even one juicy detail. Weirdest case since I've last seen you. Go."

"Um…racist death truck." Sam replied.

"What?" Julia laughed. "That's awesome."

"And you, sweetheart?" Dean asked.

"Definitely Margo the contortionist poltergeist."

"That's not that weird." Dean scoffed, unimpressed.

"She dated my roommate for three months."

"Ah. Kinky?"

Julia shuddered. "She was the ghost of a sideshow contortionist. You do the math. Ugh, hold on guys. Get ready. I can smell the bastard." She closed her eyes, focusing, trying to block out the noise of traffic. "I can hear it's heartbeat, and it's breath. Step back, draw your guns. 1…2…3!" She whipped her eyes open and spun around to see the werewolf charging at them from behind.

She raised her hands and zapped the changeling, stunning it. Sam shot it through the heart without missing a beat, quickly killing it.

"This is so efficient with three of us." Julia high-fived Dean. "Let's get the body out of here and get something to eat, hmm?"

Many Years Previous….

"High school sucks." Sam said, carefully balancing a hot cup of coffee in one hand, and a few books in the other.

"Yup." Dean remarked. "You the drill, Sammy. We'll be out of here before you have time to get comfortable. So why worry about it?"

"I guess you're right." Sam sighed.

"Since when do you drink coffee, anyway? Dad would kill me if he knew I was letting you have caffeine."

"And yet the whole reason I need it is because we were out all night hunting ghosts and he's somehow fine with_ that_. Talk about mixed up priorities…oh,hey, sorry!" A tiny brunette girl with an armful of books collided with him, and the hot coffee spilled all over her top, soaking her to the skin. Steam rolled off the fresh cotton of her blouse.

"Oh, shit!" she exclaimed, "I'm hella sorry, guy. Didn't mean to jack you up." She rummaged in her purse and handed him a dollar. "That'll replace the coffee? Later. I'm so late for class." She hastily ducked into a nearby restroom, presumably to clean coffee off of herself.

"Smooth, dude." Dean chuckled.

"Dean, she just…that coffee was hot. Like,really,really hot."

"She's handling it, Sammy. We're already late. Now, me, I don't care. But you-"

"It didn't burn her, Captain Observant. She didn't even flinch."

"Oh." Dean nodded. "Yeah, I guess that's kinda weird."

"You didn't notice?"

"Her shirt was wet, dude. You could totally see her bra."

"Seriously, Dean?"

Dean grinned and shrugged. "So…what do we do about the girl? She could be anything, right? Demon, shapeshifter. I'm thinking we try the holy water test, first. Go in and drench her while everybody else is in class."

"But it's the girl's bathroom." Sam lamely protested, knowing that it was too late to argue. If the girl was a monster, it was their responsibility to find out and take her down.

"Oh, come on, Sam."

"May as well do it before we start our first class. Does weird stuff just follow us around?"

"Yeah, don't get too worked up about it, Sammy." Dean pulled a silver flask out of his jacket. "Okay, we go in on three. One, two, three!"

They barged through the door while Dean emptied the flagon of holy water on the girl, who was dabbing at her ruined shirt with a wet paper towel.

"What the hell?!" She asked, flinging up her hands in exasperation. "The first shower you gave me wasn't enough? This is the girl's bathroom, guys."

"Um…we were, uh, trying to help you get the stains out?" Dean offered with a light chuckle.

"With holy water?" She grabbed the silver flask from him, observing the huge cross molded into the side of it. "You're awfully young for hunters, aren't you, boys?"

"Wait, you…What are you?" Dean demanded. "How do you know that-"

"You aren't the first ones to douse me in holy water." She said. "But you _are_ the first ones to find me at school, so kudos. What is it you want from me?"

"What are you?" Dean repeated, as if he were speaking to someone slow. He pulled a knife out of his boot and pressed it against her throat. She rolled her eyes.

"I'm a human. Just a plain old vanilla human. I have superpowers, that's all. But it's from science, not from magic. I'm not something you need to hunt. Could you put the knife away? I'm on team good guy. Pro-hunter, actually. Well, accept for that one dude who thought I was the devil, but I'm getting ahead of myself."

"You expect us to believe that you have superpowers?" Sam asked, skeptically.

"Well, no. It's sort of unbelievable." The girl admitted. "But I'd appreciate it if you kept this on the DL. My family doesn't even know. Put that knife up. This is New York City, new kid. You can go to jail for that here. Do you want to be on the five o'clock news? Because I sure don't."

"How do you know we're not from here?"

"Your clothes? Your accents? The fact that tiny over there apologized when I bumped into him. Could you please not cut my throat? It looks so gory and it'll take me hours to heal. Please?"

"Dean," Sam said, "Maybe she's actually-"

"What Kool-Aid are you drinking, Sammy?" Dean asked, but he put the knife away. "If you try anything, I'll cut out your heart and see how long it takes you to heal from _that."_

"Understandable." The girl shrugged, then offered her hand to shake. "I'm Julia, by the way."

Dean didn't touch her, but Sam shook her hand, cautiously.

"I'm Sam. And this is my big brother Dean."

"Well, Big Brother Dean seems to be doing an exceptional job." Julia offered him her hand. "Takes his job seriously. It's admirable."

"I'm not touching you. I don't even know what you are."

"Okay." Julia shrugged again. "Hey, I know I look and smell like I was attacked by a Starbucks, but do you two have anybody to eat lunch with yet? Because you're more than welcome to sit with me."

"Have you got a screw loose?" Dean snarled quizzically.

"No. You just seemed like neat guys. Jeez. And you know my secret identity and all, and I know yours, so I figured it would make sense for us to be friends."

"Maybe." Sam said, generously. "We'll talk about it."

"You'll not be doing anything but going to class. Go on, Sammy. I'll deal with this."

"But-"

"Go to class, Sammy."

Sam frowned, but did as he was told.

"Big Brother Dean takes his job _very_ seriously." Julia said, taking a seat on the countertop. "I don't expect you to trust me right away. Admittedly, I'm not very good at this whole, "making friends" thing." She used her hands to illustrate her quotation marks. "But something tells me that you aren't, either?"

"I have friends." Dean defended. Julia just nodded.

"Sure you do. But they aren't here. Just like mine aren't. We can't have two hunters and a superhero in here going at it. We have to go to the same wretched school, so we can't be enemies. Truce?"

"Superhero? Wait, like-"

"Yeah, I'm the one from the news tabloids. Emrys Grey. Most people think I'm a hoax. But please, _please_, don't tell anybody."

There was something sincere about the girl, and even though she seemed savvy, she carried a certain innocence about her that Dean felt compelled to protect, the way he wanted to protect most people he encountered on jobs.

"We won't tell." He said. "But how are you…I mean how does-"

"How does one acquire weird powers without a cursed object or demon deal, you mean? Tell you what, let's cut class, grab some pancakes, and I'll explain the whole thing. But I want your story, too."

"I'll show you mine if you show me yours." Dean quipped.

"Oh, please." She scoffed, but still laughed a little, in spite of herself. "Does that line honestly work?"

Present Day

"Wait, wait, wait." Julia laughed. "It was a rabbit's foot that caused all that trouble?"

"And we didn't even get to keep the lottery tickets." Dean added. "I'm still sort of pissed about that."

They were in the elevator, headed up to Julia's apartment.

"Okay, guys. Before we get upstairs, I have to warn you about my somewhat unorthodox roommate situation. I live with a guy. But he's not my guy. He's just a guy. Dean, you remember Alan, right? The surly, alcoholic psychic?"

"Oh, Alan." Dean said. "Joy."

"Dean and Alan don't really get along." Julia explained to Sam. "It's some weird alpha male thing."

"Maybe you can't have more than one surly alcoholic in a group." Sam joked.

"I am literally right here." Dean said. "I can hear you both."

"Yeah, I know." Julia playfully punched his shoulder. "So, I made pot roast in the Crockpot. And I left a pie cooling. Pecan with caramel. Dean's favorite. I don't know your favorite, Sam, but I'd be happy to make it tomorrow."

"No, thanks, Jules. I'm not big on sweets."

The elevator doors rolled back to reveal a wide and spacious living room, comfortably decorated with plush fabrics, rustic wood and stone accents. The whole house smelled like vanilla and bergamot. A fire gently crackled away in a stone fireplace.

"I did some renovating since you were last here. The wood paneling on the walls? It's holly, oak, and ash. Keeps out fae. Underneath the wood are salt-crusted iron reinforcements. Keeps out almost anything. Does a hell of a job of soundproofing, too."

"Ah, we taught you well." Dean said.

Alan, having heard voices, came down the stairs. He was slightly taller than Dean, but still shorter than Sam. He was terribly thin, and his t-shirt and jeans were ill-fitting on his small frame.

"You must be Sam. And, uh, hi, Dean."Alan said,sulkily.

"Hello Alan." Dean glared.

Julia laughed. "I told you that they didn't get along. Come on, guys. Let's just have some dinner, and we'll discuss this case over dessert. Alright?"

What do you guys think? Should I go on? I think there's some interesting potential here.


	2. Chapter 2

Sam Winchester had never had any trouble falling asleep in a strange bed. It came with the job description, after all. But he was accustomed to the even cadence of his brother's breathing in the bed next to him, or at least the hum of a nearby highway, or the steady roar of a cheap air conditioning unit. Dean had insisted on his own room that night.

"How often do we get privacy, exactly?"

Julia had no shortage of guest rooms, and she was way too happy to play the hospitable host. "I even put chocolates on the pillows, guys, like a fancy hotel, see?"

The guest room Julia had shown him to was nice. The sheets smelled like clean laundry soap, and were softer than any sheets he was used to. The pillows were extra fluffy and were scented of calming vanilla and lavender. There was none of the mildew or stale cigarette stink of a cheap motel. Was that where he was in life, where seedy motels felt more like home to him than a nice bed between sturdy, safe sound-proofed walls?

He sighed and groped in the dark for his cell phone, clicking on Ruby's number. His finger idled over the dial button for a moment, then sighed and returned his phone to the nightstand.

He'd been meaning to talk to Dean about everything that had happened when his brother was in Hell. Now seemed as good a time as any, right? His phone clock read 3:00 a.m., but he was too restless to sleep. He wondered if Dean was awake, as well. He kicked off the overly warm and heavy feather duvet, and walked across the hallway to his brother's room.

"Hey, Dean, you awake?"" he whispered, as he opened the door. He was greeted, not by darkness, as he expected, but gentle candlelight. A Guns N' Roses song played from a CD player. Julia was astride his brother, her long legs and arched, naked back gracefully visible from under the covers.

"Oh my God!" Sam exclaimed, and quickly shut the door. What the hell? He heard his brother curse, and there was a bit of a scramble. For clothes, he assumed.

"Do you think he saw?"

"No, Jules, I don't think he saw at all." Sam could practically see his brother roll his eyes.

"Well, maybe he-"

"Here, just put your-"

"Oh, God, where are my pants-"

Sam put his hands over his ears and closed his eyes, and somehow made it back to his room that way. He cringed. Julia. His brother and Julia. How many times would he have to walk in on Dean in various states of undress? Could they have at least put a sock on the door or something?

A few minutes later, there was a timid knock on the door.

"Hey, Sam?" Julia's lilting voice inquired. "Can we come in?"

"Sammy, let us in." Dean demanded, and barged in.

"Hey." Julia smiled, awkwardly. Her hair was disheveled and wild over a hastily thrown on robe. Dean's shirt was crookedly buttoned and untucked.

"Hey." Sam replied, uneasily. "So, um, are you two…?"

"No." Dean said, putting his arm around the tiny superheroine. "We have an…arrangement."

Julia put her head in her hands and sighed, exasperatedly.

"It sounds so messed up, that's why we didn't tell anybody. Look, it's just…we live a certain lifestyle that's not exactly conducive to healthy relationships. So we made a rule that if we're in the same town, and we're both single, then we get to be a sort of couple. But only for the duration of the case we're working on."

"And only when nobody else is around." Dean added. "It's sort of perfect. No responsibilities, really. Just all the good parts. And nobody can use her against me, because she has superpowers. And they can't use me against her, because I'm a kick ass hunter. And nobody knows, anyway."

"Let me get this straight. You two…I mean…How long has this been going on, exactly?

"Oh, jeez. Since, like, hell, Jules, help me out here."

"You were at Stanford, Sam. I think, like, 2002? I don't know."

"So what, are you guys like, in love or something?"

"No." Dean and Julia said in unison.

"We're just sex friends." Dean said. "Occasionally. Like, once a year, maybe?"

"Wow, way to make it sound classy." Julia groaned, and Dean raised his hands defensively.

"Didn't see you complaining earlier." Dean smirked.

"Oh, God, my ears. Stop." Sam said. "How did this happen?"

"It's kind of a long story." Dean said, massaging Julia's shoulders. "Maybe we could all go back to bed and we can talk this out in the morning."

"Is that all you think about?" Julia asked.

"Oh, like you're not thinking about it." Dean teased, planting a kiss on her cheek.

Julia smiled coyly. "Well, yeah, maybe a little bit."

"You two are disgusting." Sam wrinkled his nose. "I think I appreciate the secrecy, now."

"See? I said the secret route was a good way to go." Julia said. "Dean wanted to tell you, but it made more sense this way."

"And you were away when it first happened, anyway, Sammy. And it never really came up after that." Dean said. "Sorry I never said anything."

"But it has happened since then." Sam said. "Since I started hunting again."

"Well, yeah. We try to meet up least once a year. It's a good vacation. Nobody has to do any hero-ing. Even though, we usually end up working anyway. But it's still a good break."

"My life is a lie." Sam said, drawing his knees to his chest.

"Oh, quit being a drama queen, Sam." Dean said.

"Well, at least it's out in the open, now, right? No more secrets?"

"Actually, um…" Julia bit her lip. "Alan doesn't know. Neither does anybody else. Just you."

"So, we won't just be hunting demons on this trip? We'll also be hiding your, um…exploits, from all the people you know?" Sam clarified. "That's a little ridiculous, don't you think?"

"We are just like Chandler and Monica." Julia laughed, and gave Dean a kiss.

"Who?" Dean asked.

Sam sighed and fell back on the bed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Just go. The both of you. Out."

"Jeez, somebody's grumpy." Julia said.

"Can we borrow the CD player in here?" Dean asked. "When you um, surprised us, Julia's powers fritzed a little and shorted ours out."

"I busted the lightbulb, too. But I have spares downstairs. No big. I pop light bulbs all the time when I feel strong emotions."

"I know you do, darlin'." Dean winked at her, and she blushed.

"Get out of my room, oh my God." Sam put a pillow over his head.

"Go on, Jules, I'll be over in a minute." Dean said. The woman smiled and whispered something in his ear that made him smirk. "Yeah, I won't be too long."

"You slept with Jules? Multiple times?"

"Yeah, Sammy. What's the big deal?"

"I think you both realize that it's a big deal, and that's why you didn't tell anyone. Because you both know it's a terrible idea. Somebody is gonna end up getting hurt. And we're supposed to be professionals. All of us. This isn't really a professional relationship here."

"No way." Dean said. "We both know what we want, and we can't have it. Because of the sort of work we do. But there's no reason that we can't put that aside sometimes and have some fun. We have an understanding and it works well."

"What happens if one of you starts seeing someone else?"

"One time I came up here and she had a fiancé."

"What did you do?"

"We saw a movie together and ate some pizza. Friend stuff. Anyway, just get some sleep, okay? We're basically in a bunker. Completely safe. You don't have to sleep with one eye open for a night."

"Have fun." Sam rolled his eyes.

"Oh, I'm gonna. She has _superpowers_, Sam. Think about that."

"I'd rather not." Sam replied miserably.

Meanwhile, back in 2002…

Dean Winchester didn't like hunting alone, for all his talk of being a lone wolf. With Sam away at school and his father working a case in Louisiana, he had been left with a case in Manhattan. Just a run-of-the-mill haunting, nothing he couldn't handle.

But still. It was lonely, doing the work all by yourself. He prided himself on being able to find the address of an old friend, a girl he and Sam had run in to and palled around with for about a week back in high school. She'd be 23 now, Dean realized, and wondered why they hadn't kept in better contact.

But he knew the job, and even though being a superhero was probably a little bit different than being a hunter (he wouldn't turn down some superpowers, most days!), the tasks were often the same. Dangerous, high stakes, and time consuming. She probably hadn't had any more time than he had, to pick up a phone and give him a call.

She was genuinely surprised when he showed up on her doorstep. "Dean Winchester!" She'd beamed, and hustled him inside for some sweet tea and cookies. After she made him take a swig of some holy water, of course. Just to be safe. She was a Manhattan transplant, but maintained so much of her Southern heritage, from her maternal hospitality to her sweet Delta accent.

"Julia." Dean had smiled back. "I was in town, and wanted to see if you were interested in hunting a ghost or two."

"I wished you'd have called, Dean." She'd frowned. "I have a date tonight. I can go with you after, but I'll be an hour or two."

"An hour or two?" Dean laughed. "That's a really short date."

"Well, I don't plan on staying long. My stupid sister-in-law set me up with her brother's cousin's business partner or something. I don't see this ending well. I hate Wall Street Types, you know. Dicks, the lot of them. I honestly like ghosts better. At least you know where to stand with them. But enough about me. What on earth have you been up to?"

And he sat down and he caught her up on everything. He told her about Sam leaving, about all the hunts he'd gone on. She told him about her past few years, and what a disaster they'd been. About her nemesis, who'd tried to kill her but had only succeeded in wiping her memory.

"I spent about a year on my own." She'd explained. "Nobody knew where I was. And me, I still had my powers, but I didn't know what I was. I figured I was some sort of monster, so I just sort of laid low. But my sidekick, Alan, he found me, and set me right. And then this place…my godmother was killed. I inherited this from her, but I'd give everything I have to see her again."

"Sounds like a hell of a time."

"Yeah." Julia had sighed. "Though it doesn't sound like you had a better time than me, though."

"Amnesia trumps my issues, any day of the week." Dean joked. "But cheer up. Maybe something good is about to happen to you. Maybe your date will be a good one."

Julia scoffed. "Yup. And I'm the Queen of England. Dating is so stupid, anyway. Pointless for people like us, really. And then there's the bit with the banter and the game playing, and it's just dumb. Why can't people just be honest with each other? Like, "You're looking at me, and I'm looking at you. I'm pretty sure this attraction is mutual. Would you like to maybe put your lips on my lips? Okay, thanks.""

Dean laughed. "Because that's way too easy, that's why."

"Nothing is ever easy." Julia sighed. "You drove a long way to get here, I bet. Do you want to rest up here while I'm gone? Do some research, and then we'll toast your vengeful spirit. I'm gonna go get dressed."

"Going someplace fancy?"

"Yes. Tavern on the Green. This fella is really trying too hard, isn't he? "Look how much money I have!" I have been craving pizza for days. Not foie gras."

"We can get pizza after we go hunting." Dean promised.

"Awesome." Julia smilled. "I'd better go get dressed. Make yourself at home. Here's the tv remote."

She re-emerged a half hour later, with her hair done up in an elegant chignon. She was wearing a black velvet cocktail dress that revealed a gratuitous but classy amount of cleavage, along with a delicate diamond necklace.

"I feel a bit bad about leaving you here all by yourself." Julia said, as she fastened on her earrings. "You'll be okay, won't you?"

"Yeah, I'll be-" he paused when he saw her. "Son of a bitch, Jules. You clean up good."

She smiled, blushing a little. "Yes, well, it is a nice place I'm going to. But I can't wait to come home, put on my yoga pants, and eat greasy pizza with Dean Winchester. Be back soon, okay? Help yourself to the kitchen. I have beer on tap."

She made her way toward the door. Dean felt the need to stop her. Why should she go spend an evening with some douche in a suit?

"Hey, Jules, stop."

"What? You okay?"

He walked over to her and gently smoothed a loose strand of hair away from her face.

"Dean, what are you doing? You feeling okay?"

He nodded, his green eyes staring into her hazel ones. "Don't punch me, supergirl. Just go with me on this."

"Dean, what are you talking about-"

"You're looking at me. I'm looking at you. I'm pretty sure this attraction is mutual. Would you like to maybe put your lips on my lips?"

She took a breath, then nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, okay."

He tenderly brushed his mouth over hers, and she returned the kiss, wrapping her arms around his neck. The two quickly melted into it, and everything quickly became a messy, passionate blur.

_More action in the next chapter, I promise. Just laying some background information down. What do you all think so far? Could I take this in an interesting direction? Please review!_


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